Israel on Saturday (December 28) said that its military has detained director of Kamal Adwan Hospital due to suspicions that he was “A Hamas terrorist operative”. This and events leading to the detainment have left northern Gaza’s last major health facility inoperative. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed this.
Israeli military has now said that Hossam Abu Safiyeh, the director of the hospital is being held for questioning. The military also said that it targeted the hospital to raid a Hamas command centre operating inside the facility.
Abu Safiyeh’s detainment has come just days after he alleged that Israel was targeting the hospital “with the intent to kill and forcibly displace the people inside”.
The WHO has said that Israeli military action at the hospital has stopped delivery of critical health services in the facility.
“Kamal Adwan is now empty,” it said. It added that it was “appalled” by the raid.
“The systematic dismantling of the health system and a siege for over 80 days on north Gaza puts the lives of the 75,000 Palestinians remaining in the area at risk,” said WHO
The remaining patients — including 15 critical ones — and staff were transferred to the Indonesian Hospital, which WHO described as “destroyed and non-functional,” it added.
The WHO has been looking at the situation and said earlier (December 27) that it had reports that “some key departments were severely burnt and destroyed during the raid”.
Israeli military has said that 240 individuals have been detained. It claims that there are “Hamas engineering and anti-tank missile operatives” among them.
Officials have also claimed that Israel has also detained 15 “terrorists who infiltrated Israel during the October 7th massacre” in 2023.
